Humble Neighbourhoods
by Lamby
Summary: In the humble neighbourhoods of Europe, Blaze is growing up a lot of things- a mutant, a murderer, Gambit's apprentice, but can she grow enough to accept who she is and who she's becoming?
1. We don't want to go home

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men  
  
A/N: Warning- original character approaching! Anybody left? Cool, good for you! Brief fic about growing up a mutant when you can't control your powers, growing up an orphan when you made yourself that way, growing up a thief with a certain Cajun for a tutor... Growing up in Paris, amongst other places, with other kids from humble neighbourhoods who are more bad than good! Title and chapter title taken from Pink's 'Humble neighbourhoods'. For those of you who've followed mine and Corrinth's joint timeline, this is an early one, set right after my 'the Fire and the Thief'.  
  
Humble neighbourhoods  
  
01: We don't wanna go home  
  
The redheaded sixteen-year-old teenager slipped between the pressing crowds with relative ease, eyes glancing from handbag to back pocket to... Ah, fat juicy wallet... Her small hand took the prize with no effort, the victim of her slight-of-hand completely oblivious. The wallet disappeared as quickly as she had picked it up, in her own pocket without so much as a glance to see if she had been seen. She knew she hadn't, some parts of thieving she might be relatively new to, but others she'd long been forced to adapt to survive. Lets face it; nobody else was going to watch out for her, a mutant, and a murderer...  
  
Big brown eyes sparkling at this new and dangerous world she found herself in, she wondered if the music resounding through the club was loud enough to deafen her? The lights danced off those around her, making their movements as they danced disjointed and bizarre. She tossed her ponytail of troublesome thick red curls back over her shoulder, toying with the idea of going dancing herself. But no, disappearing off would only irritate him, and she needed him. He was offering to teach her how to survive, to fend for herself now she had no one to do it for her. In return, this lovely wallet she'd 'found' would go straight to him for him to decide his cut, much as that stank.  
  
He cut across her path, almost nonchalantly, not even making eye contact, but she knew she had to follow him. He was irritatingly good at making sure they weren't being watched or followed, judged their own security as important as the work they did. Blaze, the English apprentice, supposed he had a point, but she'd have found it easier to understand if he hadn't been just eighteen months older than her, and of course, if he wasn't an American. Unfortunately, he was both.  
  
Blaze's hands lodged themselves on her hips as he frowned at her in a quieter corner of the club. Was he going to tell her off again? Stupid question. She'd been his apprentice for about five minutes, or however long it took for them to make it from Paris where the police were on his tail, to Berlin and the wonders of the German underworld, but already she knew his disapproval too well. If she hadn't picked up languages so quick, German especially, she had a gut feeling Remy le Beau would have ditched her already. But she had her ways of making herself useful, and her German was now impeccable.  
  
"You even think 'bout that?" He asked, pointing to the wallet in her back pocket. "Or it just too easy for you?"  
  
"What's there to think about?" Blaze replied, pouting. "It was there, so I took it. It'll pay for a round at least."  
  
"How much?" He asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. One day, Blaze swore, she'd get used to those weird red-irises-on-black-whites eyes of his. They freaked her out completely. She fished the wallet out and opened it, scanning through the contents quickly.  
  
"Thirty-five, and some girl's phone number on a post-it note. Lovely."  
  
"T'irty-five euros?" The mutant known as Gambit scoffed. "It gone in one round, then what? You go take another? An' another? How long 'til the cops show up coz of all the pick pocketin'?"  
  
"And I'm sure you've done much better." Blaze answered sarcastically. "You got X-ray vision or something?"  
  
"Non, Petite." He shrugged arrogantly, knowing it irritated her to be called Petite. If she was over-conscious of anything, it was her height. She wasn't even all that short, not really, but she certainly didn't like having to look up to Gambit in any way. "But I don't walk about lookin' at pockets, jus' those with 'em." He opened up a wallet of his own stealing, revealing literally fistfuls of notes. "Tourist, male, single, or at least that how he want his li'l friend to see him. His wife he don't wanna know what he spent his money on, so lots of cash."  
  
"What do you want me to say, Gambit?" Blaze replied shortly, hiding her annoyance at herself behind her hot words. "You've been doing this a lot longer than me..."  
  
"Don't worry Chere, this child's play." He consoled her, grinning. Blaze rolled her eyes disapprovingly. "You just need to make yourself at home...An' maybe get some new gear..."  
  
"What's wrong with my clothes, Cajun?" Blaze snapped aggressively, not appreciating his opinion one bit. "I'm your apprentice remember, not one of your trampy girlfriends."  
  
"Hey, easy Chere!" Gambit laughed. "I don't know what you English kids do for fun, maybe shirts an' jeans the in t'ing!" Self-consciously Blaze glanced down at herself, black shirt over dark blue jeans and black strappy shoes, she'd thought she looked okay. But then again, looking about, she decided he might have a point. Definitely overdressed for this dive. Despairing she turned her back on him and left him with both wallets, heading for the ladies with her mind made up. He thought he knew everything, thought he had her figured right out? Well she'd show him! She didn't know what little daddy's girl he was basing his opinion of English females on, but she'd sure show him...  
  
The ladies' room door crashed shut behind her, the suddenly almost bright lighting a welcome change from the unsteady glow of the dance floor. Make up was easy to come by; she batted her eyelids, scraped and borrowed from the others passing through. Her hair she tore savagely from its ponytail, running wet hands through her troublesome curls until they bounced and glistened, hanging well down her back in a sheen of gold and red. Drying her hands off on her jeans, she pondered what to do with her outfit...  
  
"Your hair suits you better down." A more mature, almost matriarchal voice offered. Blaze turned, coming face to face with possibly the most beautiful young woman she had ever met in her short life in the criminal world. Polished olive skin set against perfect steely grey eyes, the woman's hair was exactly the opposite to Blaze's; sleek, dark grey and straight like molten iron. "But promise me you are not doing this for some guy are you?"  
  
"No way." Blaze retorted. "I'm doing this for me, whatever this is. I don't want to be looked down on..."  
  
"Then you'd best grow a few inches." The tall, lean young woman replied, letting herself down gently from her perch on top of the washstand. Blaze instantly went on the defensive, she wasn't that short, but the stranger was smiling. "Better yet, just get bigger heels. Pain about being this tall, you gotta watch how big your heels get or you look like a jolly giant. Not exactly stylish."  
  
"I've never thought of it that way." Blaze replied thoughtfully, before shaking her head and introducing herself. "I'm Blaze." The stranger frowned for a moment before taking Blaze's proffered hand and replying.  
  
"Mercury."  
  
"You're a mutant?" Blaze asked naively.  
  
"I am." Mercury said slowly. "And by the name you gave, so are you. You might want to learn to be more careful about that in future. Not everyone you'll meet will take well to you using the name 'Blaze'."  
  
"Sorry." Blaze apologised. "I'm new to this."  
  
"No kidding." Mercury smiled again, a smile that lit up her face, made her scarlet nose-piercing glint and her many hooped earrings dance. "You particularly attached to those jeans, or can I dismantle them for you?"  
  
"Go for it." Blaze steeled herself. Her eyes widened in awe as Mercury placed a hand to a hot water tap, the metal of which became a sharp blade that just fitted into the curve of Mercury's long fingers. Now that was how to control your powers...  
  
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Gambit shook his head as Blaze stormed off. She'd cool down soon enough, probably. In the meantime, he had some people to talk to...  
  
His animated discussion with another thief came to an abrupt end when the guy he was talking to suddenly stopped responding, staring across the dance floor. Gambit turned to see what it was the guy was staring at, spotting the problem instantly as his jaw fell open. How could someone so short have legs that long?  
  
Blaze danced easily, knowing that she was good enough to pull the whole thing off. Her loose hair bounced in the strobe lights, long bare legs glistening between her strappy shoes and the torn jeans that were now not much more than hot pants. Her shirt was tied up, revealing her belly button piercing she'd had only a couple of months. It was pretty much all Mercury's idea, but it was exactly what Blaze wanted and she liked it a lot. So did the guys she was suddenly dancing with, as she played off them innocently enough, determined to enjoy herself tonight.  
  
Gambit cut through the crowd professionally, and when the young man closest to Blaze tried to push him away from his apprentice, Remy knocked the loser's lights out. To his surprise, Blaze laughed as he hit the floor, grabbing Gambit's wrist and headed towards the bar, knowing there was no way he'd dance.  
  
"What's so funny, little one?" He asked, leaning on the bar as she ordered the drinks.  
  
"You just did what I'd been thinking about for the past ten minutes! The creep was asking for it! Cheers." She toasted him, and then slammed the vodka back straight. Remy found himself smiling along with her, confused though he was.  
  
"I don't get it, where all this come from?" He indicated to her changed appearance, making Blaze snort her laughter.  
  
"It was here all along, trust me, it was just a little better covered!" Her eyes sparkling wickedly as she tried to explain a little better. "You think I'm some sweet little English princess, all etiquette lessons and drinking tea? Not where I come from! Maybe this is a little more of an extreme neighbourhood than what I'm used to, but not that different... And lets face it, I pull this off so much better than the rest of the women in this dump!"  
  
"I ain't gonna argue with that Cherie..." Gambit grinned, suddenly finding a little more respect for his protégée. "Go have fun," He ordered, "I'll watch your back."  
  
Blaze smiled genuinely, knowing the offer of a night off when she heard one. Tonight, for the first time since she'd killed her parents, she didn't want to go home... 


	2. We don't want to get a job

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men  
  
A/N: Warning- original character approaching! Title this time is taken from Robbie Williams' 'Its Only Us.'  
  
Humble neighbourhoods  
  
02: We don't want to get a job  
  
"Come on come on come on!" Blaze had never felt so impatient in all her life, and with good reason as she tapped her long fingers in the steering wheel of the car, practically jumping up and down in her seat as she waited for Gambit to reappear. This was taking too long, something had gone wrong. She should go, now, before she got caught too. But what if he hadn't, and he got here to find her gone? He'd be caught for sure. "Hurry up hurry up hurry up!"  
  
Suddenly a figure dropped at a run from a second floor window, landing briefly on a large trashcan and hopped to the floor. Grinning Gambit wrenched open the passenger-side car door, looking thoroughly impressed with himself.  
  
"Don't tell me," Blaze sniped, wiping sweaty palms on her jeans and putting her foot down. "You're a genius right?"  
  
"You said it Chere." He laughed, twirling a sparkling CD-Rom around his right index finger. "We lie low tonight, sell this tomorrow..."  
  
"Uh-huh." Blaze agreed unnecessarily. Like he'd care if she'd disagreed. Nervously she eyed the mirror as she turned the steering wheel. No sign of any cops yet, they may just have got away with this. She started to relax, not much, but enough so that she wouldn't make any mistakes. Now was the time to blend in, disappear, and never be seen again. "And when do I get to have some fun? Sat here waiting for you is doing nothing for my nerves."  
  
"We see," Gambit offered nonchalantly, relaxing back in his seat. "Dis a big step up from pickpocketin', non?" He dropped the disk in his pocket and glanced at her.  
  
"Don't patronise me Cajun." Blaze warned. "You're not leaving me sat playing taxi driver again. I'm better than this, I want in."  
  
"We see Petite!" Gambit laughed, impressed by her enthusiasm though he'd never admit it. Rolling his eyes melodramatically he sighed. "Huh, women..."  
  
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Again, Blaze found herself waiting for Gambit, stood at the street-ward end of a Parisian alleyway. Her booted feet tapped the pavement mock- impatiently, her arms folded across her chest, wind toying with her long hair. She wasn't really all that bothered how long Remy took this time, the sun was shining in Paris, the Seine sparkled like an elixir of beauty, and after all, this was it. He'd relented; she was no longer getaway driver or lightweight pickpocket. This job, for which he was getting what details he could from their buyer, was for both of them.  
  
A short while later at a table of a quaint pavement café, armed with beire blonde et crepes avec fraise, they poured over the plans of the building. For the most part Blaze was content to listen to Gambit's opinions, looking carefully at the papers spread between the refreshments. But spotting something she just had to pipe up, wary as she was of being knocked back.  
  
"What about here?" She pointed to an area of the blueprints. "That window's a nice size, and there's no offices near it..."  
  
For a moment Gambit frowned, moving a beer bottle to get a better look. Then he shook his head.  
  
"Non, Petite. No offices, but there a lab. An' if it was Gambit designin' this t'ing, there be a security guard right down that corridor; good view of that window."  
  
"Oh, okay." Blaze smiled, leaning back in her seat and looking up at him, brown eyes sparkling.  
  
"What?" He asked, slightly worried.  
  
"Nothing." Blaze countered sweetly. "Well, you just listened to something I said, and thought about it, before completely dismissing it. That's progress." She toasted him with her beer, making him smile.  
  
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In the dead of night, the full moon illuminating the Geneva streets like silver, the laboratory building was an immovable monolith of blackness. Immovable, but not watertight. All it took to crack its shell, a young man's finger tracing the seal of a ground floor window, making it glow orange. There was a slight hiss as alarm sensors short circuited, then a plop noise as the glass slipped free of the frame. It would have crashed to the ground and smashed, but for the girl counterbalancing it with suction cups until her colleague could lend his muscle to move it to the floor. She bit her lip as the glass grated on the gravely floor, conscious of every small noise they made. But nothing happened, and now they were in.  
  
There were infrared sensors stationed in corners of most of the rooms in the building. They knew this; they had been on the plans. Silently, Gambit pointed the first two out to Blaze, seeing her nod singularly. He pressed the trigger on the gas canister he held, releasing a low fog that made the infrared beams visible and therefore easier to avoid. Only then did they enter the building.  
  
He'd chosen to take them in as near as possible to their destination. It was a room of old-fashioned filing cabinets, a veritable treasure-trove of possible valuables to those who knew what they wanted. Blaze had the instructions from their buyer; she was quickly searching for the exact data he wanted. But what he was paying them wasn't enough to cover much more than their travel and equipment expenses. If Gambit hadn't had Blaze to do that part of the job for him, he wouldn't have taken it. But as it was, he was now free to raid the rest of the data, looking for anything that might be sellable on the black market. Anything he did find would be sold at a profit, providing they got away.  
  
Brown paper folders secure in Gambit's moth-eaten bag, they headed back the way they had come. They had cased the building out for a week beforehand; they had less than ten minutes to get out before the guard's next patrol. Plenty of time. At least, that's what they thought.  
  
The Swiss security guard must have been bored, taken his patrol early. He rounded the corner and entered the room with the window missing just as Gambit was swinging himself over the ledge. For a second their eyes met, then as it sunk it with the security guard what he was seeing, Gambit was gone and urging Blaze to run.  
  
Blaze didn't argue, but even as she began to sprint back to their getaway car Remy's longer legs were driving him past her faster that she could ever manage. If he'd been on his own, she thought, if he was on his own and I was waiting in the car, we'd be away in no time... But she pushed the thoughts of her failure to one side, ignored the screaming of her leg muscles as she ran like never before. Gambit pulled open the passenger side door and flung himself over into the driving seat as the building's alarm was triggered. A hellcat screaming filled the air, as Blaze arrived mere seconds later to throw herself into the passenger seat and wrench the door shut. Gambit had already started the engine.  
  
Sirens screeched like a sailor's doom, filling the air with ominous wailing. They had no choice but to hide as Gambit's strong arms hauled the wheel around forcefully, spinning the stolen car into a network of dark alleyways. Blaze's breath wrung out of her, a combination of exertion and nerves. Her foot tapped irritably on the car's floor as Gambit killed the engine. This was not how she'd imagined tonight would go...  
  
"Easy Petite, they gotta find us yet..." Gambit barely breathed, not looking at his apprentice. Blaze tried to listen to him, but as usual her imagination was a little over-active. She could feel her powers building inside her. Would she ever learn to control her mutation, her ability to create fire? She'd killed her parents with it, and so far four other people. She kept trying to deny it, trying to keep it under control, but if the police were to find them... Her pulse raced, she swallowed hard, her stomach on fire. "Easy." He told her, "Relax." And he took her shaking hand in his.  
  
Slowly, her breathing eased. His hand alternately gently squeezed and released hers. He knew what he was doing; she just had to trust him... Trust him? He was a damn cowboy! She couldn't trust anyone... No, she could trust him. He'd saved her life, saved her from the authorities before. He knew what she was and he didn't care, he was a mutant too. And a murderer? She didn't know the answer to that...  
  
A police siren gave a brief and sudden keen like a strangled dolphin at the other end of the alley. Blaze thought her heart would stop. The other car swung around to face them, headlights the gates of the afterlife, a torrent of searching truth. They were cornered.  
  
"It okay, Blaze." Gambit still tried to keep her calm, feeling her hand grow hotter in his. He knew she could kill him, he'd seen what she'd done to people before, charred bodies not even identifiable by their own mothers. He looked at her, not at the approaching police car gradually closing the distance. The police acted like a tiger stalking their prey, creeping forward, waiting for them to make a break for it. "They only saw me at the lab, they lookin' for one guy." Blaze looked at him, met his eyes desperately. Was he suggesting giving himself up to save her? She began to object, but he wasn't done. "We jus' gotta look like we down an alley for somethin' else, non? We get away with this..."  
  
"What on earth would two people in a car be doing hiding down an alley?" Blaze asked shortly, naively. Gambit rolled his eyes as she cottoned on almost as soon as she'd spoken. "Oh."  
  
"It just actin'. He tried to convince her. "An' it this or nothin'."  
  
And then he was kissing her, lips exploring hers, as she remained unresponsive, in shock. Had she ever even been kissed before? The police car's headlights came closer; the men inside the car would soon have a very good idea what was going on here. Mentally Gambit swore, using every trick he knew to get Blaze to enter into the moment, but she was having none of it. This disguise was not going to work, and they'd both end up in jail...  
  
In the final second before the police could see through their windscreen, Gambit's fingers found Blaze's soft red hair. Like magic she suddenly responded to his efforts, lips melting into his, body into his arms, breath low and hot. Despite himself, Gambit was blown away. The headlights blinded him even through closed eyes, but he didn't pull away. Blaze's tongue brushed his, his fingers still in her curls, her hands on his shoulders, scorching his shirt. For a moment all his senses were blinded, scalded, numbed. And then it went dark.  
  
"Salaud." Blaze swore, pushing him away as the police car drifted off in another direction. As if disgusted she wiped her hand over her mouth, scowling. "Don't ever try anything that cheap again, or I'll..."  
  
"Or you'll what Cherie?" Gambit was mildly annoyed at how his efforts had been received. Whether he'd meant it or not, it grated on him to be so insulted about his kiss. He'd not had any complaints before now... Belle, he suddenly thought with a swell of guilt, and totally missed Blaze's threat in reply... 


	3. We don't talk about love

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men  
  
A/N: Warning- original character approaching! Title this time is taken from the Manic Street Preacher's 'Design for life'.  
  
Humble neighbourhoods  
  
03: We don't talk about love  
  
Blaze brushed away panicked tears, frightened thoughts as they troubled her make up and her mind. Her heart throbbed melancholily as it had since leaving Geneva by plane some time last night. They'd landed in Paris not long before, instantly heading their separate ways she just had to be as far away from Gambit as possible...  
  
She wanted to not care that she'd offended him. She wanted to not care that he'd be worried about her. A day ago, she wouldn't have dreamt that he could be worried about her. She didn't know if she wanted him to or not. Fire grew in her belly, her foot pressed to the floor of the cheap car she'd stolen as she left Paris and headed into the countryside. Headed to Normandy.  
  
Her powers had been distracting her to the point of madness the whole journey home. She'd refused to sit near Gambit on the plane, trying and failing to distract herself from her powers, from where he sat a constant distraction, just visible a few rows forward. If he glanced back at her she wouldn't meet his eyes, staring at her hands as a light sheen of emotional flame darted over her fingers. This was madness. She was a wreck. What he'd just done to her, her emotions now so ragged... If she lost control she would bring the plane down...  
  
Fortunately she knew a few things. She knew how to slip into a meditative trance, reducing her troublesome emotions to a minimum. She spent the journey in a daze, but the sight of him stood waiting for her as they disembarked made her run for the car park. She could not deal with this! How dare he kiss her!  
  
And so the Normandy countryside opened up around her. A small village near Bayeaux was home to an exceptional woman, Miriame. Blaze had met her on her way to Paris, a small and frightened teenage mutant. Miriame took more than one such child in, people round about directed kids like her to the 'mutant- witch' with the awe of peasants talking about some mystical hedgewitch of old. But Blaze knew Miriame was not a mutant, she claimed only to have some skill in calming troubled spirits.  
  
Blaze was more than troubled, banging on the cottage's wooden door with tears flooding down her face, powers making her hands leave burn marks on the ivy-green paint. The ones she'd made last time she was here had barely begun to fade, the marks of a girl who had murdered her parents. The door swung open slowly, grating on the stone floor. Blaze entered straight into the living room, startled the cat sat washing itself on the windowsill. Animals rarely took to her, she smelt too much of fire, and Miraime's only family was no exception, darting for cover as Blaze came in.  
  
"Back so soon, child?" The Frenchwoman spoke easily in her own tongue, coming straight to Blaze and taking her hands. A wizened, kind grey face with crystal eyes smiled at her, forcing Blaze to make the same response through her tears. "Tut, tut, and I'd thought you were making a name for yourself as a criminal now. What kind of thief is reduced to tears?"  
  
"Help me." Blaze begged in French. "Make it go away, before he does anything stupid again and I kill him..."  
  
"Child," The older woman smiled a soothing smile. "Child your emotions are running riot. Your aura is a storm of panic and... Oh." The smile changed, became a slight frown. The white witch ran her fingers through the air around Blaze's face, making the redheaded teenager pull back. "You feel this strongly about him?"  
  
"I didn't mean to. I didn't know. It was nothing, nothing to him... I'll kill him! Miriame I will murder him like I murdered my parents! I can't control this..." Blaze's frantic desperation swung into a needy plea. "Please make this go away. Make my mutation go away... It scares me..."  
  
"I know child. Your terror is clearer even than your swell of feelings for the boy. But I cannot take either of them away." The distress on Blaze's face was obvious, the fire in the hearth dancing frantically, trying to sooth its young mistress. Miriame was forced to take matters into her own hands before her home went up in smoke. "But you can control both of them!" She stubbornly commanded, not looking at the rampant fire, but holding Blaze's face in her talon-like hands and demanding that the child look at her. "You can control both, and you do not need me to know how to do it. I have taught you better than that."  
  
"That sounds like something he'd say..." Blaze half sighed, eyes wet and heart painful.  
  
"You are a good pupil Blaze." Miraime counselled. "Let us mediate a while, rebuild your controls. You can stop this. You can stop your power from ever leaking out..."  
  
"From killing anyone I care about?" Blaze asked, ignoring the tears on her cheeks, images of her parents filling her mind's eye.  
  
"From killing anyone else." Miriame announced, more confidently than she could feel.  
  
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"Where the hell..."  
  
"None of your business." Blaze snapped before Gambit could get his sentence out. She didn't know why she'd come back, she couldn't stay away.  
  
"But why did you..."  
  
"I needed a break, okay? My powers were acting up. Or do I need your permission to go and make changes to stop me from roasting you alive?" She knew she sounded cruel, but it hurt so much to be back here. The girl he was with couldn't follow the English conversation, instead muttered an insult in French, not thinking that Blaze could understand. "Est-ce que peux vous aider?" Blaze snapped, asking if she could help the girl. Unsurprisingly, the blonde got up and left the sun-filled coffee shop.  
  
"You could've just said, Blaze. I could've helped you." Remy wasn't the least bit phased that his date was leaving, apart from watching her leave rather critically before turning back to his troublesome apprentice. One day he'd meet a woman that actually got on with Blaze, and then they'd be getting somewhere. "You t'ink I don't know how to control mutant powers?"  
  
Before Blaze could answer, he had a single ace of spades in his fingers, turning it around, alternatively charging and uncharging the object, and all the while not breaking eye contact with Blaze. She slid into the vacated chair, dropping her eyes, ashamed and afraid. Whatever barriers Miraime had helped her to put up held firm. But it didn't mean she still looked at him the same as she always had done...  
  
His eyes no longer troubled her. Instead she was fascinated, how could eyes so dark be made up of so many delicate shades and colours? His pupils weren't red, they were amber and crimson and gold like the sunset... And his mop of scruffy hair, half-gelled half-forgotten, deep chestnut with highlights of red, what would it feel like to run her fingers through that hair? Like he had hers...Tall, growing more muscular and less lanky by the day, he was on the verge of being stunning to look at. And not quite aware of it. He knew he was good with women, but he didn't know why. Blaze longed to be the one to show him. And then her meditative barriers slammed in, made her stop thinking about it.  
  
"You know how to play solitaire?" He asked, carelessly dealing cards across the table. "When I'se just a kid, everythin' I touch blew up..." He wouldn't meet Blaze's eyes as she looked at him with sympathy. "Somethin' 'bout breakin' chemical bonds, releases energy, I don't know exactly what happens. But it happen all the time, till I got playin' cards. It the only thing ever really take my mind off of it, what help me get control..."  
  
"But..." Blaze started slowly. "But you're so in control, I've never seen you blow up something you didn't mean to?"  
  
"No mutant got control jus' like that Chere." He looked at her, making her heart leap. "An', I wont say I'se not had no help. But you'se not got nobody either. I'se right here, okay?"  
  
"Sure." Blaze sighed. "What do I do?"  
  
"With the cards or your powers?" He asked, frowning at her, eyes sharp across the café's table.  
  
"Huh." Blaze shrugged. She was becoming very skilled at avoiding his piercing looks and she knew it. "Either..."  
  
"Cards is easy." Remy replied seriously. "Your powers maybe you should try lettin' off a little at a time, non?"  
  
"No way." Blaze shook her head, making her curls dance in the sunlight. "I'm never using them again."  
  
"Never? Petite, that ain't gonna work..."  
  
"Yes it will." Blaze replied adamantly over Gambit's discouragement. Her terror gave her no choice. She couldn't face being overwhelmed by her powers, not again. "I will not kill anyone else."  
  
"I'se know you're scared, Blaze, but..." Gambit reached out to take her hand comfortingly. He nearly brushed her skin before she pulled back, not looking at him. Her cheeks were flushed with the stress, her eyes clouded with emotion. Her hands shook. No thought of him crossed her mind, only the images of her parents' charred corpses on the smouldering kitchen floor.  
  
"Scared doesn't even come close..." She muttered, remembering everything as though it had happened yesterday. The acrid smell, the taste of embers on her tongue, the sound of the fire engines outside...Slowly, Blaze bit back on the terror, the knowledge that she'd killed her own parents. She looked back at Gambit, he didn't know, she'd never told him what she'd done. He only knew she'd killed people who wanted to hurt her. Could she tell him the truth? Could she live with herself if she didn't? Surely she had to start trusting him sometime... His eyes pinned her where she was, waiting for her to explain. Blaze took a slow breath, let it go, and dared herself to confess all...  
  
"I killed my own family, Remy. That's why I was running, why I came to Paris. When my mutation appeared, I killed my parents..."  
  
Gambit was taken aback, leant back in his chair as though visibly trying to distance himself from her. An orphan himself, though later adopted, he'd spent his early years dreaming what it would be like to have a home and a family. Blaze had had that, but she'd destroyed it all... Why? And then he realised it was a stupid question. She'd had no choice; he knew how her intermittent powers worked. A burst of wild firepower, and she was spent, knocked out. Wasn't that enough to make anyone scared of their own powers? He knew he would be.  
  
"But you not mean to, Petite." He answered gently, not allowing her hand to slip through his fingers this time. Holding on to her carefully, aware she may bolt at any moment, he risked a haphazard sideways smile. "It be okay. You not want to use your powers, Gambit help you with that. You're not alone..."  
  
...And as his eyes bored into her very soul, all Blaze could think to herself like a mantra was I'm not in love, I'm not in love... 


	4. We can't be certain who the villains are...

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men  
  
A/N: Warning- original character approaching! Title this time is taken from the Sheryl Crow's 'There goes the neighbourhood'.  
  
Humble neighbourhoods  
  
04: We can't be certain who the villains are 'cause everyone's so pretty  
  
Blaze had a boyfriend. It irritated Gambit, not so much because she was seeing someone, but because she wouldn't just spit it out and admit it. And so whilst he was confidently 'networking', building his connections and name about the nightclubs of Paris, she was avoiding digging up any work at all, off dancing with this boy. Whatever, Gambit thought, I'se work better on my own anyways.  
  
He kept an eye on her. It wasn't that he didn't like the guy especially; he didn't know anything about him. A tall black youth close to Blaze's age, he looked strong enough to do the redhead some damage if he wanted to. But for the time being at least she was laughing at something the guy said, all fluttering eyelashes and innocent eyes.  
  
"Look Gambit, its like I said, I had a better offer. You're not the only thief working in here tonight." The potential employer dismissed Gambit without even getting up. Remy's eyes narrowed, but he backed off. Funs over Blaze, he decided, time to track down an' deal with the competition.  
  
But Blaze was chatting away amicably to some other girl now, making girly exclamations whilst Blaze's date hung an arm over her shoulder. What did she think this was, a social event? Blaze knew Gambit was hovering, but she stoically ignored him as she greeted Mercury like a long-lost big sister.  
  
"It's good to see you too, Blaze!" Mercury crooned, kissing Blaze's cheeks and offering a friendly hand to Blaze's male companion. "How's business? Keeping you out of trouble I hope?"  
  
"Yeah right!" Blaze laughed, shrugging her boyfriend's arm off her shoulder. "You only hope that 'cause I'm the competition! And I thought thieves were supposed to stick together!"  
  
"In that case, c'mon, I wanna introduce you to a few people. Only because its you Blaze, you know, I don't share my contacts with just anyone..." Mercury grabbed Blaze's wrist and energetically tugged her out of Gambit's sight into the dense crowd. Her boyfriend just stood there, looking a little lost, but Gambit had no sympathy for the kid. He was far more interested in who Blaze was getting introduced to...  
  
Half of Paris' underworld seemed to be swarming the club, and all of them knew Mercury. Before long, most of them knew Blaze as well, though they obviously didn't think very much of the sixteen-year-old. Constantly she was aware of Gambit tracking her movements, watching her back, but letting her be just the same. Slowly, a plan even better than getting herself a boyfriend to take her treacherous mind off of Remy hatched in Blaze's increasingly criminal mind. She just had to get Mercury and Gambit talking...  
  
"Merc, you're gonna get me in trouble." Blaze finally threw in the towel with the whole 'networking' thing. "Much as you've been telling everyone I work for you, I don't, okay?"  
  
"Your boss the jealous type?" Mercury smiled, putting her arm though Blaze's possessively. Blaze grinned, swinging them both round to try and spot Gambit in the crowd. "Do I get an introduction before I steal you off him?"  
  
"Sure," Blaze replied casually, flicking her hair back over her shoulder and leading Mercury over to Remy. But despite appearances, her stomach was doing summersaults. If this didn't cure her, nothing would. Gambit didn't smile, his eyes running dangerously slow over the pair of them, and Blaze knew he was weighing Mercury up in more than one way. "Mercury, Gambit; Gambit, Mercury."  
  
"You know, when you said you were working for someone, I didn't think you'd mean just another kid, Blaze." Mercury commented flippantly, tilting her hip and smiling flirtatiously at them both. Blaze detached herself from her friend and went to stand next to Remy. "I'll fight you for her?" Mercury asked him, steely eyes light and alluring.  
  
"No t'anks." Gambit returned Mercury's smile with a sly one of his own, putting a hand possessively on Blaze's skinny bare shoulder. Blaze glanced at him, saying "Aww, go on..." whilst ducking out from under his strong hand.  
  
"Hey Blaze, you done?" Her date suddenly appeared from nowhere with impeccable timing she wouldn't have credited him with. Nodding to him, Blaze left Gambit in Mercury's more than capable hands. All she said by way of encouragement was "Play nice" as she headed for the dance floor. Once there, she turned her back effectively on the other two thieves, trying to lose herself in the music. She knew them both well, knew where their conversation would take them. The jealously that rode inside her was as comforting as bile. She wouldn't, couldn't watch them flirt. Blaze convinced herself easily that this was for the best; there was no way she could spend the rest of her life daydreaming after Gambit...  
  
But Mercury's first few words to Gambit were purely business. She liked Blaze a lot; seeing what Gambit had seen in her, knowing she was a natural talent. If it weren't for Blaze's obvious loyalty to Remy, Mercury would have stolen Blaze away to train without a second thought. Not that she could much fault the job Gambit had done.  
  
"So, are you going to tell her that she's as trained as she'll ever be yet? Or are you worried she's going to disappear the minute she knows?" Gambit met Mercury's words with a frown, wondering if the belle fille was a telepath or somethin'.  
  
"I'se just not sure she ready for facin' the underworld alone yet, Cherie." Remy's dark eyes drifted to watch Blaze dancing with the nameless boyfriend. She really had no idea how captivated the boy was with her, how other male eyes around the room were watching her too. "She still so young..."  
  
Mercury wondered briefly if she dared bring her next idea up, but it wasn't her way to mince words. Gambit was the one making decisions about Blaze's training, but it didn't mean he'd considered all the options...  
  
"She could be taught what she's capable of, Gambit." Mercury spoke evenly, unemotional though she broached a controversial topic. Neither did she shy away when Gambit's unusual eyes turned back to her, demanding an explanation from his fellow mutant. "I know a few people, I'm sure you do too." Slowly, he nodded. He also knew exactly what Mercury was implying, he'd thought about it before but never come to any sort of decision. Yet as he watched Blaze now, he knew this decision was out of time. It was now or never. But Mercury was already backtracking, slotting in her words of warning.  
  
"If you're seriously thinking about having her taught to use her charms, you have to remember she wont be the same girl by the end of it. All that innocence she has now will be gone..."  
  
"But," Gambit countered, making his mind up. "If she ain't taught, an' she goes where I can't follow, she gonna learn the hard way what losin' innocence is all about. Too many predators in this world not to arm her against 'em."  
  
"If its any consolation," Mercury smiled her charming smile, stepping a little closer to the handsome Cajun as if to show her support. "I agree with you."  
  
"Who you suggest?" Gambit was still only thinking about business, hand in his pocket toying with a playing card. Mercury shrugged nonchalantly before replying. "Arista's good. Very good."  
  
"Arista's a guy." Gambit pointed out, a little uncomfortable with the knowledge.  
  
"I know." Mercury agreed with a quick grin. Not everyone did. "But I'd be interested to know how you found out?"  
  
"Not like that, I ain't stupid." Gambit was quick to point out, perhaps a little too quick, but Mercury let it slide.  
  
"Of course not." She smoothed over his discomfort as she smoothed her glossy hair back from her face. "Do you want me to arrange something? She's here tonight..."  
  
"Non, Chere." Gambit shook his head. "I puttin' Blaze up for this, I'se arrange it myself."  
  
"I understand." Mercury did, better than she would admit. She half wished the people who'd made her the thief she was had been as diligent as the Cajun. "You can pay, right? Arista's not a cheap tutor."  
  
Finally Gambit grinned at Mercury, his eyes suddenly dancing and animated, the defensive steak he had when it came to Blaze disappearing in a puff of smoke.  
  
"Well I could if someone round here stop stealin' all the business. What you offerin' 'em Cherie, free brownies?"  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
A hand tapped Blaze on the shoulder not too much later, bringing her back to the real world from her dancing with a thud. Gambit didn't offer an apology; just spoke to her quickly, ignoring the evil looks Blaze's date was giving him.  
  
"I'se got someone for you to meet, Petite..."  
  
He led her from the dance floor to a smoky corner, hidden under a balcony, where several attractive women of various ages were lounging amidst lace and feather bowers. In the centre of the group, a startling brunette sipped red wine like blood, reminding Blaze of some Renaissance image of Venus, with ringlet curls and a knowing look. Certainly it took some impressive breed of woman to make Gambit uncomfortable around her.  
  
"Hi there honey." Arista exuded smoothly, voice as knowledgeable as her eyes. "Oh she's a star, Remy, your taste is definitely improving boy..."  
  
"I don't get it." Blaze frowned, turning to Gambit for guidance and finding none. Arista sighed melodramatically as if Blaze had somehow offended her, whilst the other women around watched the three of them like vultures.  
  
"Come sit down, sugar. Let old Arista have a look at you..." Arista patted the seat next to her, and Blaze found herself in a position where she couldn't refuse. What was Gambit up to? But Arista was talking again, taking Blaze's chin in hand, and almost scratching the teenager's ivory skin with elaborate fake nails. "Well aren't we the Bambi-eyes beauty? Let me explain before you explode. Remy, darlin' be a dear and leave us be, us girls need to bond."  
  
"I be about Petite." He swore, before for once doing what he was told and making himself scarce. At the bar, Mercury was waiting for him with drinks and amicable company, but it could hardly be said he'd spent the rest of the night in a good mood. In the meantime Blaze spoke her mind to no one in particular.  
  
"Doesn't anybody use my name anymore?" She moaned, ignoring the fact that technically she was as bad as any of them for using the alias 'Blaze'.  
  
"Well you are a sweet thing," Arista rationalised. "And 'Petite' is such a cute pet name. But I agree with you Blaze, a girl can out-grow wanting to be sweet. Me, I'm an artist. I teach girls to make themselves exactly what they want to be. Trust me, illusion is not a skill to be taken lightly, nor is manipulation..."  
  
"You're a bloke." Blaze suddenly realised, but Arista smiled confidently, a teeth-flashing smile of confidence and amusement.  
  
"Congrats, honey, really. You're about the quickest to get that in a long while. That your fella over there looking all neglected?" Blaze followed the pointing finger to where her date stood by himself, and nodded. "Yeah, and I should really..."  
  
"You should nothin'." Arista told her forcefully, before turning to one of her other tutees. "Keira, go keep the guy company. A boy as lovely as that shouldn't be stood on his own."  
  
With a nod, swinging hips and gallons of feminine charm, the girl named Keira slid like a serpent over to Blaze's boyfriend. Blaze was helpless as she took him by the belt and took him back to the dance floor, his eyes out on stalks and his jaw dragging on the floor. Despite herself, Blaze was impressed.  
  
"You can teach me to do that?" She demanded of the drag queen, who laughed and picked up her wine glass again.  
  
"You already can, hon. I'm just gonna remove those sweet little blinkers you're wearing..." 


	5. We're sick of feeling guilty when we hav...

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men  
  
A/N: Warning- original character approaching! Title this time is taken from Terrorvision's 'Hide the Dead Girl'.  
  
Humble neighbourhoods  
  
04: We're sick of feeling guilty when we haven't been caught  
  
Six months later...  
  
Blaze didn't have a key to Gambit's crummy, ant-infested apartment. He'd consider it an offence to his tutorage if she needed one. The seventeen- year-old's well-used lock picks had the door opened in seconds, despite having one hand holding a cardboard tray containing a takeaway breakfast.  
  
"If you want coffee get your lazy backsides out here now!" Blaze called loudly in the direction of the bedroom door, kicking the front door shut with a thud behind her. Plonking the three coffee-shop lattes down on the table and dropping her breakfast besides it, she shrugged out of her coat and tossed it on top of Mercury's. Only then did she turn to the reason she'd come calling; a very nice laptop Remy had swiped not so long ago, with internet access and all the best security upgrades he'd been able to wrangle.  
  
"Get your own damn breakfast Rem." She ordered without turning round, making Gambit grin as his hand stopped centimetres from stealing her bacon sandwich with the works. He settled for the coffee, adding extra sugar and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as Mercury appeared already dressed to apply her make up in a room with better light.  
  
"How did your date go Blaze? Mercury asked coyly, uncapping her mascara as Gambit went on the hunt for a vaguely clean shirt.  
  
"Didn't go." Blaze answered shortly, frowning as she tapped on the computer keyboard. Gambit and Mercury exchanged glances, confused.  
  
"But..." Mercury continued, "You're still wearing what you were in last night. If you weren't on your date, or at home, then where were you?"  
  
"Working, obviously." Blaze slurped her coffee and turned to face her friends. "Ditched my date for someone worth a bit more." She shrugged and turned away from the couple again, voice wise and sad. "Its amazing what men'll do when they think they're getting somewhere...Oh, I'm in. Remy?"  
  
"In where?" Gambit asked, coming to lean over her shoulder, one hand besides hers on the desk, the other on the back of her chair.  
  
"Accounts department, outgoing payments override. How much do you want?"  
  
"It secure?"  
  
"As it'll ever be." Blaze answered, trying to concentrate on what she was doing, not on how close he was to her. She'd thought setting him up with Mercury all those months ago would cure her of this irritating crush. Shows what she knew. At least he was oblivious.  
  
"Then make it random amounts, low numbers, an' not addin' up to anythin' in particular."  
  
"Backdate some of them?" Blaze asked, glancing sideways at him, noting how intently he was reading the screen. The hairs on the back of her neck were tingling, that's how close he was. Concentrate! She admonished herself.  
  
"Yeah," Gambit nodded, thoroughly impressed with what Blaze had been up to, wishing he'd been there to watch her back. Who knows what danger she'd put herself in to get these codes? "Make it look natural Petite. Non. Chere, try four-five-one not four-fifty, seven-nine-t'ree not eight hundred, okay? Looks better."  
  
Mercury sighed over-dramatically, well aware that they were cutting her out. Part of her was suddenly suspicious, was this the beginning of Gambit dumping her completely? Maybe was the best comfort she could form, as she sluiced together her belongings into her bag and headed for the door.  
  
"I'll pass on the coffee, thanks Blaze." She offered, hand on the comforting cold metal of the door handle.  
  
"You're welcome." Blaze answered, clearly not listening. Gambit was on a mobile now, talking fast in French, no doubt asking for his Internet line to be cut.  
  
"Bye Remy." Mercury finished, leaving and not quite slamming the door in disgust. Dust swung through the air, disturbed by the force of her disapproval. Gambit and Blaze both looked at the slab of wood in mild confusion, then went back to what they were doing.  
  
"Ouch." Blaze commented consolingly as Remy finished his call, removed the SIM from the handset and lobbed it out the window to explode. "Sorry, but this couldn't wait or he'd most probably change the codes..."  
  
"Don't worry 'bout it little one." Gambit brushed off her concerns for him and Mercury. "I'se thinkin' 'bout endin' it anyways."  
  
"Fool if you do." Blaze commented, more lightly than she felt. Them being together was her security, the common sense that kept her thinking straight. She switched off the computer. "All done."  
  
"How much?"  
  
"Four thousand, nine hundred and eighty six euros fifty, currently flying through various sub-ether bank accounts to land in the real world this afternoon." Blaze could at least be proud of that; that was a good night's work.  
  
"So when I take my seventy percent..." Remy started, not surprised when Blaze turned on him with fiery eyes.  
  
"Not in this life time!" She laughed, "Best you're getting is forty, and that's only because I feel mean for barging in!"  
  
A brief flush of sirens in the streets outside floated in like the stench of a corpse, destroying the amicable teasing. Both thieves glanced to the open window, then back at each other nervously. Blaze gave an anxious smile, and then picked up her coffee to hide how her hands were shaking. Gambit closed the window.  
  
"They not comin' for us. Not yet anyways." He tried to comfort her, but folding his arms defensively at the same time. Blaze nodded.  
  
"I know. And I was careful, I swear Gambit..." She put her coffee down and looked at her bacon sandwich, suddenly not hungry anymore. The man she'd ripped off had been decent enough; just another easy target who'd never think anyone would be out to steal from him. Guilt was not a nice feeling.  
  
"You always is." He agreed seriously. "That why you're so good at this Blaze."  
  
"You ever wish that we weren't?" Blaze asked him with a sigh. Gambit couldn't help but grin.  
  
"Why? So we can get caught? There always bin thieves, Petite, an' there always will be. If we ain't doin' this, someone else will be..." Blaze smiled back at him, he was right of course. "Besides, even if they ever catch us Petite, ain't no jail gonna hold us for long..."  
  
"True." Blaze agreed, tearing her bacon sandwich in half and passing half to him. "Fifty percent of my breakfast good enough for you, or do you want seventy percent of that too?"  
  
"How 'bout we go fifty-fifty on everythin', an' I tell you you as trained as you ever gonna be, Petite." He replied seriously. For a moment Blaze just looked at him, before her face cracked into as smug a grin as he'd ever seen her wear. If he'd known his approval meant that much to her, he might have told her the truth a long time ago. Or maybe not.  
  
"And here I was thinking you'd ditch me first chance you got, soon as your thieves guild rules were filled or whatever. You sure you don't want me to just clear off?" Blaze asked, her self-esteem needing to actually hear him say that he wanted her to stick about.  
  
"Hey, that fifty percent of the money you just stole the easiest work I ever did, why I wanna cut myself outta that?" He fired back at her, ducking as she lobbed the plastic top off her coffee at him.  
  
"You agreed to forty on that one! The fifty percent only started from the bacon sandwich!"  
  
"You want me to change my mind, eh Amie?" He grinned, both knowing he wouldn't. "Look, I need a favour Cherie..."  
  
"Sounds ominous." Blaze tilted her head to one side, marvelling at Gambit's sudden change of mood. "What is it Rem?"  
  
"Mercury." He sat down heavily, dismantling the bacon sandwich for no apparent reason. "She want too much, Amie. I'se had enough..."  
  
Blaze didn't say anything, and Gambit knew she was busy judging him. Good friend as she was, he kept almost forgetting she was still a girl, and Mercury's friend. Of course she wouldn't understand. But he just couldn't face finishing it himself; even knowing he was being a coward. Hell, he knew that anyway, was only a year ago the nineteen-year-old had left his girl stood at the altar and fled to France. His girl... Wasn't that a good enough reason to end things with Mercury if no other, he was still thinking that a girl he'd abandoned back in New Orleans was his... Damn it Belle, how'd you do this to me! He demanded, but long-range telepathy was not one of the assassin's many talents...  
  
"You know I think you're making a mistake." Blaze told him slowly, carefully, dragging him out of his gloomy reverie. "But if you're really serious about this..." He didn't need to say anything to that; just looking at her was enough. "Then I'll do whatever you need me to..."  
  
"You will?" Gambit didn't know who was more shocked at that admission, him or Blaze.  
  
"Just this once, mind." Blaze warned him. "I'm not ditching every girl for you. But maybe it would be better coming from me, I've known Mercury longer, and if you're ditching her its going to have to pretty much be the end of our friendship too, isn't it? I mean, if I'm staying working with you?"  
  
"That's what I've done, ain't it? Made you choose between us, Petite?" He asked her, red-on-black eyes guilty.  
  
"It was always going to come to that one day." She consoled him. "And you know how I hate to inflate your ego, but Mercury never stood a chance..."  
  
"Inflate my ego?" Gambit sniggered, "I'se knew you sucker for Gambit's charm, non?"  
  
"Naff off!" Blaze swore. "Charm? A twat like you doesn't know the first thing about the word!"  
  
"You accent go strong when you annoyed, non?" Remy laughed at her, "Where the hell that all from anyways?"  
  
"At least my accent's only strong when I'm annoyed," Blaze countered, eyes dancing. "I hate to tell you this, Miss New Orleans, but that really avid look on the faces of the girls you pick up, its not them being swept away by that 'charm' of yours. Its just it takes that much concentration from your average bimbo to follow a single word you're spewing. Actually, now that I think of it, maybe that's not a bad thing given the dross you come out with..."  
  
"Naff? Twat? Dross? Je ne pas comprende Cherie..."Blaze came to his side as he spoke, voice teasing as she asked, "You call that French?"  
  
"You call that English?" He bantered, brushing a strand of her loose curls back from her face. Smiling, examining her expression as she looked up at him without fear or apprehension, he took her hand in his, a deal-clinching handshake. "Partners?"  
  
The corner of her mouth twitched, rose-red lips moving into a smirk. She took his handshake and turned it into a fighter's clasp, grasped hard as though for an arm-wrestling match.  
  
"We'll show them all what we thieves are worth..." 


End file.
